Uploaded January 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
This special event was co-hosted by Wild Wonder Foundation, Feather River Land Trust, and Heyday Books.
Award-winning author, artist, and educator John Muir Laws gave this talk in November 2024 at the new beautiful Sierra Valley Nature Center in Beckwourth, California, to celebrate the publication of The Laws Field Guide to Sierra Birds. A principal innovator in the global nature journaling movement, Laws is the author of several books, including the The Laws Field Guide to the Sierra Nevada. Featuring all new illustrations of more than 200 species, this updated guide is great for novice and advanced birders alike, and it makes a wonderful gift for the bird lovers in your life. In his talk, Laws will share about his process of creating and revising this illustrated field guide, including the power of practice (what he calls “pencil miles”), bird illustration tips, and fascinating natural history stories of some of our favorite Sierra birds.
To purchase a signed copy of the book, visit John Muir Laws' store here: johnmuirlaws.com/product/the-laws-field-guide-to-sierra-birds
John Muir Laws (a.k.a. Jack) is a principal leader and innovator of the worldwide nature journaling movement and the founder of the Wild Wonder Foundation. As a scientist, educator, artist, and author, Jack helps people forge a deeper and more personal connection with nature through keeping illustrated nature journals and understanding science. Jack has kept nature journals since he was a child. As a dyslexic, Jack struggled in school. He found his place and delight in learning through spending time in nature and keeping notebooks of his observations, discoveries, and adventures. Trained as a wildlife biologist and scientific illustrator, he now observes the world with rigorous attention and awe. He looks for mysteries, plays with ideas, and seeks connection in all he sees. He has found that attention, observation, curiosity, and creative thinking are not gifts, but instead are skills that grow with training and deliberate practice. Jack loves to share ways to make these skills a part of everyday life. He is the author and illustrator of several books including The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling (also available in Spanish), The Laws Sketchbook, The Laws Guide to Drawing Birds, Sierra Birds: a Hiker’s Guide, Sierra Wildflowers: A Hiker’s Guide, and The Laws Guide to the Sierra Nevada. He is co-author with Emilie Lygren of How to Teach Nature Journaling. JohnMuirLaws.com
This special event was co-hosted by Wild Wonder Foundation, Feather River Land Trust, and Heyday Books.
Award-winning author, artist, and educator John Muir Laws gave this talk in November 2024 at the new beautiful Sierra Valley Nature Center in Beckwourth, California, to celebrate the publication of The Laws Field Guide to Sierra Birds. A principal innovator in the global nature journaling movement, Laws is the author of several books, including the The Laws Field Guide to the Sierra Nevada. Featuring all new illustrations of more than 200 species, this updated guide is great for novice and advanced birders alike, and it makes a wonderful gift for the bird lovers in your life. In his talk, Laws will share about his process of creating and revising this illustrated field guide, including the power of practice (what he calls “pencil miles”), bird illustration tips, and fascinating natural history stories of some of our favorite Sierra birds.
To purchase a signed copy of the book, visit John Muir Laws' store here: johnmuirlaws.com/product/the-laws-field-guide-to-sierra-birds
John Muir Laws (a.k.a. Jack) is a principal leader and innovator of the worldwide nature journaling movement and the founder of the Wild Wonder Foundation. As a scientist, educator, artist, and author, Jack helps people forge a deeper and more personal connection with nature through keeping illustrated nature journals and understanding science. Jack has kept nature journals since he was a child. As a dyslexic, Jack struggled in school. He found his place and delight in learning through spending time in nature and keeping notebooks of his observations, discoveries, and adventures. Trained as a wildlife biologist and scientific illustrator, he now observes the world with rigorous attention and awe. He looks for mysteries, plays with ideas, and seeks connection in all he sees. He has found that attention, observation, curiosity, and creative thinking are not gifts, but instead are skills that grow with training and deliberate practice. Jack loves to share ways to make these skills a part of everyday life. He is the author and illustrator of several books including The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling (also available in Spanish), The Laws Sketchbook, The Laws Guide to Drawing Birds, Sierra Birds: a Hiker’s Guide, Sierra Wildflowers: A Hiker’s Guide, and The Laws Guide to the Sierra Nevada. He is co-author with Emilie Lygren of How to Teach Nature Journaling. JohnMuirLaws.com
